Jet lag

A great excuse for not-so-strong riding. After arriving to Lisbon yesterday from a very interesting conference in the USA (that is, if Bacterial Cell Surfaces are really your thing) I thought the best way to get back to normal rhythm would be an early morning bike ride, so 8.30 at the Estadio nacional it was. According to Sergio we would be going for a relaxed 3 hour ride. The first part of the ride was okay, but on the first climb of the day I was riding at a heart rate of over 170…I guess two weeks off the bike including a week of American food, beer, little sleep and intense science caught up with me. I barely stayed with the group only to lose them on the descent as per usual. Sure enough I only caught up at the start of the next climb and was dropped again immediately. Decided to go for my own pace, stop for a Coca-cola (definitely not light) break in Sintra and then headed home. I was still able to push the pace a bit on the way back because someone I overtook decided to suck my wheel…but a burp that almost came out as something else meant ‘estive fodido’ (PT for beginners, the expression can be literally translated to English but won’t as not to offend anyone, in Dutch it would be ‘aos tomates’) . It also was the first real warm day on the bike – and it was noticeable as there was a lot more beach-bound traffic than on a normal summer morning, and around midday the smell of churrasco (bbq) was everywhere...

My orange shirt had to be washed again and is now hanging outside...ready for tuesday night ;-)